Hailey Baldwin Bieber is sharing some information she's learned since experiencing a stroke last year.
The 26-year-old model recently revealed on her Instagram Story that it has been one year since she experienced the health scare that led her to discover she had Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), a heart condition in which a hole exists between the left and right side of her heart.
"Can't believe it's been one year since I suffered a mini stroke that led to my PFO diagnosis," Baldwin Bieber shared on Instagram alongside a YouTube video she recorded a year ago explaining how she found out about the condition.
"Given that it's the one-year mark from such a life-changing event, I wanted to share all the information I've learned about PFO and share resources to donate," she added, posting a donation link to UCLA Health, who helped diagnose her condition.
In her next two Instagram Story slides, she shared some facts from UCLA Health about PFO, including that it is "the most congenital heart defect" and affects "20% of all people."
The post says that PFO has a "60% occurrence among 1st-degree relatives" and that "60% of people who have a stroke without a known cause are likely to have a PFO."
In a second post, she gave some information about how PFO occurs, saying that the "passageway between the left and right atria of the heart" exists in everyone before birth but eventually closes. However, "in around one in four people the flap does not close," like in Baldwin Bieber's case.
Baldwin Bieber explained in a video in April that after her mini-stroke she had undergone a transcranial Doppler, a "more accurate" and "in-depth" ultrasound test used to detect strokes caused by blood clots.
She said she had been diagnosed with a Grade 5 PFO – the "highest grade" possible, and the small hole between the left and right side of her heart measured between 12 and 13 millimeters.
Baldwin Bieber then underwent a procedure to close the PFO under her doctor's recommendation. A small, button-like object was inserted through the femoral vein in her groin to close the small hole, and she said her heart tissue would grow back around the closure device.
She shared at the time that the PFO closure procedure had gone "very smoothly" and she had been in the recovery process.
"The biggest thing I feel is I just feel really relieved that we were able to figure everything out, that we were able to get it closed, that I will be able to move on from this really scary situation and just live my life," she said.
